6
Wednesday, August 5, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
TRAILHEAD: New
location will have less
impact on neighbors
Continued from page 1
a citizen letter-writing cam-
paign in support of the new
trailhead. Approval for the
project was received in 2012
from the Forest Service, but
it took four years to obtain
the project funding.
After two unsuccess-
ful attempts to obtain fund-
ing for the approved proj-
ect, STA9s Guttormsen and
Patrick Eckford worked on
the 16-page grant appropria-
tion request, adding actual
trail data to the request. The
third time was the charm
when Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department9s
Recreational Trails Program
granted $152,000 to be
matched by $38,661.40 from
other sources for a total proj-
ect cost of $190,661.40. That
OPRD money comes from
Federal gas tax funds.
Jodi Bellefeuille with
OPRD told the people
assembled for the ribbon
cutting ceremony for the new
trailhead last Thursday that
the money was granted in
part due to all the work done
by so many people. Not only
did the proposal have to be
written, but the trail data had
to be collected and a formal
presentation had to be made
in front of an OPRD advi-
sory committee.
Jerold Wesley, a 15-year
civil engineer with the
Deschutes National Forest,
served as the project engi-
neer on the new trailhead.
He used the dimensions of
a Sprinter van to design the
parking spaces. Besides 25
designated off-road gravel
parking spaces and the
installation of a CXT prefab-
ricated toilet, the trailhead
will also have an informa-
tional kiosk built by the STA,
bike racks, space for user
staging, and room for future
expansion.
Sisters District Ranger,
Ian Reid, who emceed the
ribbon cutting, is himself a
fan of the PRT, having dis-
covered it three years ago
upon his arrival in Sisters.
He pointed out that trails in
Sisters meet strategies of
all four pillars of the Sisters
Vision project.
Reid
expressed
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appreciation for the collab-
orative effort surrounding
the trailhead.
<The Deschutes National
Forest can9t overstate our
appreciation for our com-
munity partners, such as the
City of Sisters and Sisters
Trails Alliance, who have
provided volunteer time and
financial support,= she said.
<Having a shared vision
for a sustainable trails net-
work and leveraging our
individual strengths is part
of the 8Central Oregon
way9 of cooperation and
collective problem solv-
ing. We would also like
to thank the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department
and the Recreational Trails
Program, which have sub-
stantially funded this
project.=
The City of Sisters pro-
vided letters of support and
funding through the City
Grant Program. The Sisters
Trails Alliance has provided
thousands of volunteer hours
in planning, labor, and grant
writing, as well as money.
OPRD provided the grant
that will cover 80 percent of
the costs. The new Deschutes
Trail Coalition has offered
their support with a small
grant. McKenzie Cascade
Heavy Equipment did the
actual excavation of the new
parking lot. Sara Baughman
is the new Recreation Team
Lead for the Sisters Ranger
District, replacing Amy
Radke who was on staff for
the majority of the project.
Sisters Mayor Chuck
Ryan was on hand, com-
menting he is biased because
he is a trail runner. He told
those assembled, <What we
have here in Sisters is an out-
door gem& Businesses are
appreciative of the trail sys-
tem and the people it brings
to town.=
STA president Catherine
Hayden praised the abil-
ity of government, non-
profits, and the community
to come together in col-
laboration to build the new
trailhead
<Here9s to the PRT and its
new welcome mat,= she said.
The old trailhead on Tyee
will be decommissioned by
the City, with all signage
removed. It will remain a
neighborhood access point
to the trail.
STA is not resting on its
laurels. Their next two proj-
ects will include a Whychus
Creek foot bridge on the
old Brooks-Scanlon road to
take trail traffic away from
a wildlife area and a new
foot trail to the Peak View
overlook.
The new PRT is open,
just 850 feet south of the old
trailhead.
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Continued from page 3
Mountain Bike Trail. He has
an old oak trail sign that has
that name on it.
Rahm conceived of a new
trail system that created the
current ladder system with
many connectors between
the west and east legs of the
system.
Equestrians were at first
opposed to Rahm9s plan
because they feared they
would lose the area for riding
to the new trail system. The
compromise they worked
out created a PRT horse trail
system.
The compromise was a
win-win, said Guttormsen,
and <was the reason that STA
emerged as an organization
that builds and maintains
many miles of horse trails
besides the ones for hikers
and cyclists.=
When STA had the oppor-
tunity to have an NEPA anal-
ysis (environmental impact
study) done on new trail
projects in 2011, STA asked
the Forest Service to analyze
a new location further along
Elm Street (Three Creeks
Lake Road), where a proper
trailhead could be built. The
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FS approved the spot where
the new trailhead sits.
It took seven years to
obtain a Recreational Trails
grant to get the facility built.
STA is responsible for build-
ing the facilities kiosk and
signage to the connector trail
that takes people out to west
and east legs of the PRT.
Besides providing a vari-
ety of over 15 loop options
through beautiful ponderosa
pine forests and open sage-
brush country, and areas of
challenging rock, breathtak-
ing mountain views are seen
from the Whychus Overlook
and Peak View.
The trail is well-marked
and, with the available trail
map, riders and hikers are
able to design their own rid-
ing and hiking experience.
The Sisters Stampede
mountain bike race, held
every spring (except this year
due to COVID-19), draws
riders from near and far.
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..STA emerged as an
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miles of horse trails
besides the ones for
hikers and cyclists.
— Gary Guttormsen,
HISTORY: Trail
started as cyclists9
grassroots effort
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